Alejandra López Rueda, a senior animal studies and biology student from Coyoacán, Mexico, took first place in the breaking news category for her story “Eckerd Community Cautiously Optimistic After State Park Plan Shelved,” and seniors Lexi Holland and Jessie Lotze shared a first-place award for best magazine cover, the May edition of CAT. 5. Lexi, who designed the cover, is an animal studies student from Scottsburg, Indiana, while Jessie, who took the photograph, is an ancient studies and visual arts student from Sandpoint, Idaho.
The theme of the CAT. 5 cover was The Identity Issue, and the stories inside explored “What makes you, you.” Lexi says she and Jessie wanted to illustrate a topic that can be hard to deal with and difficult to talk about. “This [the cover] turned into my baby,” Lexi says. “And it’s insane to have it recognized. It gives me such a great avenue to pursue design, something I never thought I’d be able to do. The first cover I did was in the fall of 2024, and it was horrible. But I have so many copies of this one.”
Tida Bagby, a senior visual arts student from Inlet Beach, Florida, took second place in editorial illustration; and Donovan Snell, a senior ancient studies and animal studies student from Red Lion, Pennsylvania, placed third in the general news photo category.